Survey: electric fence in residential area

Last night we took a walk around our residential area. Our new development consists of five apartment buildings: each with five apartments spread over three levels. Nice houses, Bauhaus style, each with a penthouse apartment on top, the two ground-floor units with terraces all around the house and quite a large lawn area. I assume there is a special right of use for the garden. The 30 km/h zone runs, among other places, along these gardens, but there is sometimes more, sometimes less space between the street and the garden – where it is wider, there are infiltration basins. A tree is planted every few meters. So: we walk along there, it was dark, and I notice sticks by the roadside. My husband then saw the electric cables enclosing the area of a ground-floor apartment, running several meters directly along the street without any green strip, zigzagging along a tree. There are two cables, one ankle-high, the other lower calf-high. The electric power supply is attached to the building on a downpipe and clicks, and clicks, and clicks. Today my husband saw that it is an older couple who have a dog. I am curious to hear your opinion on this... how you would act.

Is something like this even allowed directly on the street? Or would even a blind person notice that they are leaving public property?! For the dog it doesn't matter, other animals are also fenced in like this. Animals remember that pretty quickly and then it's practically like a normal fence. A real dog could of course jump over it. Since I come from a farm, the electrified wire was not dangerous for us either. So why should it be for someone else? Still remains the question whether it is even allowed.

I would gently inquire at the building authority whether this is a "commonly accepted" enclosure. Unless the dog is a dachshund, it can probably just jump over it?

Good evening Yvonne,

Today my husband saw that it is an elderly couple who have a dog.

I am curious about what you think... how you would act.

Always choose the direct way; that is, approach them and then wait to see what happens

Regards from the Rhineland

These fences are NOT dangerous, because otherwise they would be prohibited. Even if you wait several seconds with a fist closed around the wire to endure the electric shock, only a short, slightly painful impulse occurs every second. The current flowing during contact is so low, comparable to a static discharge when getting out of a car or walking over a synthetic fiber carpet.

Are you sure it is for the dog and not for the [self-driving lawn mower]?